Two arrested for kidnap of American

Walton was kidnapped on October 28 at his farm in Masalata Village, Republic of Niger. He was rescued by American Special Forces in Sokoto State on October 31.

Six of the kidnappers were killed.

Force spokesman Frank Mba, who paraded Aliyu Abdullahi (21) and Aliyu Umaru (23) yesterday, said they were arrested on November 25. The two hail from Sokoto.

According to him, the suspects are members of a a 15-man kidnap gang of Nigerian/Nigerien extraction, led by Barte Dan Alhaji and Dan Buda.

He said: “Investigations by the Intelligence Response Team shows that the gang was plotting other abductions to avenge the death of their cohorts – four Nigeriens and two Nigerians – who died during the rescue operations. The force is collaborating with its Nigerien counterpart in the investigations to arrest other members of the syndicate currently at large.

“As part of efforts to tackle transnational crimes, the Inspector General of Police (IG) Mohamed Adamu, is working with other members of the West African Police Chiefs Organisation (WAPCO) to deepen intelligence sharing among security agencies in the ECOWAS sub-region and strengthen security along the international borders of member-states. The suspects will be arraigned after investigations.”

The suspects confessed to the crime. Umaru said they were part of a 15-man kidnapping gang that abducted Walton in Niger and took him to Kalmaro Forest in Sokoto. According to him, they went with seven motorcycles.